MIM: Blown Ink

I am playing along with the challenge this week at PTI's'MIM. I didn't have too much luck using PTI's ink as it mostly saturated the card and didn't seem to go anywhere when I blew through the straw.  Maybe I am not full of hot air afterall. I switched to Glimmer Mist and got a better result although most of it came out spidery..

 I used the striped IP for some added background texture which didn't seem to show up in the photo.

I am not really crazy about the way the card turned out, but it is going to one of my teenage neices who has a birthday next month. I think it would be perfect for a young girl. 

CAS-ual Fridays is continuing with their birthday challenge. So I will link this card up there too!

 Thank you for stopping by to take a peek.

Festive Friday: Peace on Earth

 This is my 3rd consecutive challenge for Festive Friday.   The challenge this week is to create a project with a bird in it. The dove is the perfect Christmas bird. The idea for my card came very quickly to me. I inked the background with Spring Rain, Blueberry Sky and Enchanteed Evening.

The dove was selectively inked from an old, red rubber stamp. When I was inking the background, I wanted to keep the body of the dove white. However, when I went to photograph the card, the image of the dove was blurred. So I filled it in.

 I have a couple more ideas for Christmas cards with doves. I'm sure I'll be back with another one later in the week. Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

PTI April Blog Hop: Tilted

   Although I am retired, I have my hand in several pots which has been keeping me pretty busy leaving little time to craft for enjoyment. The email notification regarding   PTI''s April Blog Hop caught me off guard. Panic set in as I didn't have a card or an idea. I missed last month and didn't want to miss this month too.
    The theme this month is to design on an angle.

  

  I am still in birthday mode since May is a very busy month for family birthdays. My twin neices will be celebrating their 14th birthday this month.  I thought this card would be great for a teenager.

   Wanting to do something quick & easy, I thought using pattern paper would be the way to go. Boy was I wrong. Lining the strips up evenly and maintaining the pattern proved to be a little tricky. Only part I messed up on was tilting the "happy" the wrong way.

   This will be my 3rd entry for CAS-ual Fridays' Birthday Bash Challenge. which is a two week long challenge to create a CAS birthday project.

  Thanks for stopping by.

A Triple Crown Challenge

    I can't tell you how many years ago, I bought my little jars of Pearl Ex. Like many other stamping supplies purchased, they just sat unused.  When I saw Nichole using the Pearl Ex on her cards lately, I was hoping there would be a MIM tutorial. Wish granted.

   Had I remembered that all I really needed to do was stamp the image with Versamark, I think I would have used these babies a lot more. Here's an upclose shot of my image & sentiment.

     I also decided to use the Pearl Ex powders on the vertical border I stamped.

  

Since the theme of the card is birthday, I am also submitting it to the current challenge at CAS-ual Fridays which is having a birthday bash.

The sketch is from this week's challenge at Retrosketches. I pretty much stuck to it.

  I don't often combine challenges. So this is great for me.  Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

2nd Birthday!

 Next month, there are two little guys I know who are turning two. They are both going to receive the same exact card because what 2 yr year old boy doesn't like cars and firetrucks? I know a stop sign is an octogon, but I couldn't resist using the hexagon shape since I didn't have an octogon. I  don't think the 2 yr old will notice.

  The challenge for the next 2 weeks at CAS-ual Fridays is to create a CAS birthday project in honour of Michele's upcoming birthday.

This will be my first entry. Since I have about 5 May birthdays, hopefully, I'll be able to create some more birthday cards in the next week or so.  Thank you for stopping by to take a peek.

Another Reto christmas card.

  This is my 2nd card for the current challenge over at  Festive Friday. The theme is retro.

  I used the balloon die on glossy card stock from Stylish Birthday and added some gold glossy paper on top to make the ornaments. 

 My goal is to make 2 Christmas cards per week. I've been at it for a month. Hope I can continue this trend. Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Retro Festive Friday

   The current challenge at  Festive Friday is to create a holiday project with a retro theme.

  I had just purchased the Vintage Ornaments Addition stamp set & dies on the for sale board at PTI. My timing couldn't have been better.  This is my card.

   I used the streamers and bow stamps from Stylish birthday. The sentiment was selectively inked. 

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Oh My Stars!

   My niece is graduating from college next month. So I decided that I would combine two challenges by using the sketch from this week's Retrosketches challenge and play along with the challenge at CAS-ual Fridays.

    Here's this week's sketch.

 My card is a little non-traditional for a graduation card since it is lacking the traditional images which convey graduation. (cap, diploma)

    I rotated the sketch and used my zipper die as my focal panel.. The diagonal stripes Impression plate from PTI was used to add some texture to the background. Here's a shot of the sentiment under the zipper strip. It's from the Celebrations stamp set.

 
The challenge this week at CAS-ual Fridays is to use glitter.

 Of course, my stars meet that criteria. I used Lilac, Silver and Kiwi Green Glitter Ritz.

I can't believe that I have this card made a whole month before I need it.  Now I just need to remember to mail it on time.Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

MIM: Watercoloring Embossed Images

        I have been trying really hard to participate in as many of  PTI's MIMs as I can. Since I have never watercolored embossed images I thought I would give it a try. Check out MIM # 111 for the tutorial.
 My final card is totally different from what I started out with. I decided to stamp the flowers on a white cardbase.  However, I had stamped a little flower in the upper right hand corner. I guess I didn't keep my heat gun close or on  long enough because when I applied the watercolor, I got a big mess.
      I really liked how the other flowers turned out using my Peerless water colors of yellow and orange yellow, and didn't want to pitch them just yet. So I cut off the part that I messed up on. The other mess I made was with the leaves. The waterclor was absolutely horrible. So I decided to use my copics and die cut some leaves which I placed over the 2nd mess I made.
      Not knowing how to rescue what I had left, I let the flower panel sit on my desk for a day. Eventually, this is what I ended up with.

     As a final touch, I added some yellow pearls to some of the flowers.

     Overall, I am quite happy with the card. In the past, I would have thrown the card in the garbage and given up.  Thank you for stopping by to take a peek.

Merry Monday #57

  I have a card for this week's Merry Monday challenge based upon the sketch below.

  I chose the sentiment from Beautiful Blessings: Holiday because I have only used this set once or twice.I thought it needed more love. The musical background paper and stripes are from PTI's Holiday Flourishes and Swirls.

 To add a little depth to this card, I colored some crystals with my Copic and attached it to the flourish from Over Easy Sentiments.

 Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Chevrons & Flowers

     

      At first glance of the challenge this week over at Cas-ual Friday, I thought I would skip it. Afterall, I couldn't image pairing chevrons with flowers. After playing around with my stamps and letting some ideas sit overnight, this is what I came up with.

     There's a new challenge this week called Fusion. Just so happens it is exactly like the challenge this week at Cas-ual Fridays.

ROCEDURES:
1. Play with just Jackie's sketch challenge.
2. Play with just Lesley's inspiration photo challenge.
3. Or you can create FUSION by combining BOTH challenges into one card.
4. Use the challenge graphic and link back to Fusion in your post.
5. Please read the other considerations on the Experiment Page before playing along.

The hypothesis is:

What will generate the most successful card for the week; the sketch or the inspiration photo or the two combined? 

Thanks for stopping by.

Pink, Pink, Pink!

     I made a very pink, birthday card for my great niece using the newly released birthday stamps and dies from PTI.

     The wonderful word, birthday was glittered using Fuchsia Glitter Ritz.

 
An upclose shot of the balloons.

. Can you guess my niece's favorite color? Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

MIM : Collage

                  When I first saw the title of this week's  MIM Challenge: Collage elements, I wasn't too excited because anything involving  the creation of a background is extremely challenging for me. After I watched the video, I decided to take a stab at it.
                  I decided I would stick with a theme. Since I need several birthday cards this month, I thought I would play around with the birthday stamp sets I purchased last month.  I began by just laying the stamps on my card stock.  This is what I ended up with.

Stamping the birthday border along the left side was inspired by this card from Dawn McVey. However the right side is not a panel but rather the front of the card itself. I just cut the top left portion off.  Here's a close up of the actual collage. Since this card is for a 4 year old who loves both pinks and purples, I chose Pixie Dust ((Versamagic) & Winter Wisteria.

This what the inside of the card looks like. I used a sponge with Pixie Dust ink to add color to the words on the left.

 The swirly banners  are on the inside because I messed up. After I stamped the words on the left, I forgot to switch to the front of the card. Luckily, I was able to salvage my mistake.  thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Birthday Balloons for my Brother-in-Law.!

     Now that Easter is over, I finally have a chance to play with my new birthday stamps PTI released in March. I have several birthdays coming up this month.  When I saw the sketch this week for Retrosketches, I knew I would play along.

     Here's the card I made for my brother-in-law based upon the sketch.

     An up close shot of the balloons. I was able to use a variety of scraps I had laying around. I love the touch of red. I think it really makes the card pop. Added some bling to the swirls too!

  CASology's cue card this week is:

  Balloons definietley convey the image of up; besides these balloons are popped up with adhesives. So I decided to add my card to their challenge. Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Festive Friday: Color Challenge

 Making at least one Christmas card a week has been a high priority for me the whole month of March.  Hopefully the trend will continue in April.  Here's my entry for this week's Festive Friday Challenge.

     I love these non-traditional colors. Made my Christmas tree a little non-traditional. 

       The sentiment is from Wreath for All Seasons. Not visible in the photo is the texture from the Linen Impression plate I used on the Sweet Blush panel. In addition, I edged the outer edges of the Christmas tree ever so lightly in Aqua Mist.  Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Beautiful Bloom Hair Bow

     I'm back with another Easter project for the challenge this week at Cas-ual Friday.

Show us your CAS Easter projects BUT we're throwing in a tricky twist...it CAN'T be a card.

My first project was  this stamped onsie I made for my 3 month old great niece to celebrate her first Easter. I just had to make her a little hairbow to coordinate with the onsie.

  The ribbon is Sweet Blush Twill. The flowers were cut using Beautiful Blooms #3 with Hibicus Burst felt.
I used the Boutique Accessories Mini Stamp set to create a card to attach the bow..

 I made a basket using The Berry Basket die.

                                                      

The final presentation.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.